Friday, March 18, 2016

A 43-year-old truck driver from North Dakota got the best of
a would-be robber by locking him in the truck’s trailer until police arrived.

According to the Bismarck, N.D., Police Department, a
24-year-old man threatened violence and attempted to steal cases of liquor from
a delivery truck’s trailer outside Captain Jack’s Liquor Land in Bismarck on
the morning on Wednesday, March 16.

However, the truck driver reacted quickly and shut the
trailer door.

Virgil George Standing Crow III was charged with felony
robbery, unlawful entry into a motor vehicle, and disorderly conduct.

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Brace yourselves for a new front on the cross-border bridge
battle between the U.S. and Canadian governments and Detroit billionaire Manuel
“Matty” Moroun.

Moroun is the owner of the Ambassador Bridge spanning the
international border between the Motor City and Windsor, Ont. The latest round
of hostilities between the two governments and Moroun comes courtesy of an
excellent report in the Detroit Free Press.

The governments are working on a new international border
crossing, the Gordie Howe Bridge, a six-lane alternative to Moroun’s Ambassador
Bridge. The Ambassador is the only privately owned border crossing between the
U.S. and Canada. In order to build the new span, the state of Michigan requires
a 42-acre parcel of land, which currently belongs to Moroun as well.

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

A New York truck driver is accused of using fishing line to flip his license plate in an attempt to avoid paying tolls.

According to a news release from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, police say the driver went through the George Washington Bridge electronic toll lane without the toll registering last week. The E-ZPass sign alerted a toll wasn’t paid.

Police stopped the 2006 Freightliner and found the vehicle’s front license plate rigged on a hinge with monofilament fishing line that ran into the cab and ended on the dash where the suspect could control it to conceal the plate and then restore it into view after exiting the toll and security cameras, the news release said. The vehicle’s rear trailer plate was bent and unable to be viewed by security cameras.

Video from the Port Authority demonstrates how the license plate was rigged.

Javier Marte, 41, of Yonkers, N.Y., was accused of tampering with public records and theft of services.

Monday, March 14, 2016

Truckers spend most of their time on the road in the cab of a truck, which means plenty of time to listen to a variety of entertainment: radio, audiobooks, podcasts, etc. A new podcast is available, and I think you might dig it.

First of all, you should tune in to Land Line Now on Sirius XM Channel 146 from 7-8 p.m. and 11 p.m.–12 a.m. EST for the latest trucking news. Don’t forget to visit the website to listen to special segments from the show online.

OK, now that we got that covered, there are still many hours left to entertain yourself. Recently, I came across a new podcast called “Alice Isn’t Dead.” It was featured on the iTunes homepage. Turns out, it was produced by the creator of “Welcome to Night Vale,” one of the most popular podcasts in the world.

Also, it’s about a trucker. A female trucker. A female trucker looking for her wife who was once presumed dead, hence the title “Alice Isn’t Dead.”

What’s cool about this podcast is it borrows from the old school radio drama days of storytelling. The unnamed narrator is the trucker who tells us of her journeys searching for Alice. Storytelling is complete with ominous music in the background and sound effects for a full audio experience.

I don’t want to give away too much of the first episode, but I will say we get a glimpse of some of the uneasiness of a female alone on the road and run-ins with suspicious people.

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